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| Affiliation | Democratic Action |
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| Name | Raúl Leoni |
| Address |
, , Venezuela |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
April 26, 1905
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| Died | July 05, 1972
(67 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Sesel
Mar 08, 2013 02:08pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Leoni (Otero), Raúl (b. April 26, 1905, El Manteco, Bolívar state, Venezuela - d. July 5, 1972, New York City), president of Venezuela (1964-69). As a student he was first jailed in 1921 for his role in an insurrection against the government of dictator Juan Vicente Gómez. Following several other jailings and another attempt against the Gómez regime, he was exiled to Bogotá, Colombia. He returned in January 1936, shortly after the dictator's death, and founded the National Democratic Party in 1937, but was repeatedly forced into exile by military governments during the next 20 years. In 1941 he joined with Rómulo Betancourt and others to form the Democratic Action party. In 1945-48 he served as minister of labour. He returned to Caracas when Gen. Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown in 1958, and he was elected to the Senate. During the 1959-64 presidency of Betancourt, Leoni served as leader of the Democratic Action party. Elected president in December 1963, Leoni had the sensitive job of trying to reduce the tensions he inherited from Betancourt, who had simultaneously alienated Venezuela's left and right. During Leoni's presidency, Venezuela maintained rapid economic growth, based on booming oil production and a new multibillion dollar petrochemical industry. Agrarian reforms proceeded less swiftly, and the persisting unevenness of the economy cost him the support of university student activists. In December 1966, he suspended constitutional guarantees for several months in a drive against revolutionaries whom he linked to Cuban leader Fidel Castro. During this time he sent troops to seize an arsenal in Caracas' Central University which had until then remained immune from action by police or army. Ironically, his own party had emerged from that same university.
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